Repeat offenders Not an uncommon problem for court officials

Sunday

Oct 21, 2007 at 4:09 AM

By NICK SABO

Staff Writer

MILLERSBURG -- Fleeing in a small pickup from a Millersburg plumbing business with a truckload of stolen copper pipes, George Swogger and Lisa Calhoun left such a distinctive trail of pipes as they fell from the truck bed that prosecutors and court officials called it the "Hansel and Gretel" case.

The Stark County couple were charged with theft in Holmes County Common Pleas Court and eventually entered guilty pleas. But before they could be sentenced, the couple was arrested again, this time for attempting to steal metal to sell for scrap from a Coshocton County business.

Swogger and Calhoun are just two examples of criminal offenders who, while out on bond and awaiting sentencing, reoffend when their behavior is being closely watched by a court that is in the process of determining whether to send them to prison or grant a more lenient punishment, such as jail time and probation.

Such behavior has been endemic to the courts for the last few months. The day after Calhoun was sentenced, a Brinkhaven man pleaded to charges that he skipped out of a 2006 child support sentencing hearing and managed to rack up two more child support charges while out on the lam.

An 18-year-old Millersburg man who pleaded guilty to charges he went on a drunken rampage in an all-night retail establishment was back in jail a week later for underage consuming charges, and in April, a Wooster man on bond following a plea to a theft offense was arrested for domestic violence.

Even more common are people who plead to drug-related offenses and turn in positive drug tests when they show up for sentencing.

It is a good way for a criminal offender to get time in prison who might have otherwise gotten off with a jail sentence or intensive probation, said Judge Thomas D. White.

"We sometimes give a lengthy period of time before sentencing, to give (the offender) time to prove themselves. That's a time to get a job, get assessed to see if they need treatment," White said. "The way they behave tells me they need to be incarcerated to protect the public or if treatment and community control sanctions can help."

For Prosecuting Attorney Steve Knowling, people who cannot stay straight for the few weeks or months while awaiting sentencing strongly indicates they should be incarcerated. Knowling said he considers recommendations for treatment options for people with chronic problems, such as drugs and alcohol addictions, but offenders who are hurting others besides themselves and who reoffend frequently need to be removed from society for a time appropriate to the crime.

"It all hangs on the level of threat to people in the community," Knowling said. "If there's a low level of harm and some social services organization or program can help them, fine. If their behavior suggests you can't trust them to change on their own, a drug and alcohol problem is second to the concern of whether they pose a threat, that's when it's time to take them off the streets."

It is easy to attribute reoffending to stupidity. "Odd news" and "dumbest crooks" columns abound with true stories of offenders who are back in jail almost as soon as they are released. But White believes stupidity represents a minimal contribution to criminal activity.

There are two primary reasons convicted offenders quickly reoffend, White said. The first is substance abuse. The second is simply the offender has gotten away with crimes for so long he reoffends in the belief he will not be caught. Both of these reasons are backed by a lack of learned values embraced by society, White said.

"I don't think it is a lack of mental ability," White said. "I think it is their moral structure, a lack of appreciation with the pain their offenses cause people and with a lack of the ability of approaching life's problems without turning to mind-numbing chemicals. These lessons have not been learned."

It doesn't make the job of the defense attorney representing the offender any easier. Loudonville attorney Andrew Hyde said a defense attorney must still try to present the case in their client's best interest to the judge.

"Our job is to find the best light in which to present our clients to the judge," Hyde said. "They can be their own worst enemy. It is an uncomfortable situation to be in but not one we're unfamiliar with."

Reporter Nick Sabo can be reached at (330) 674-1811 or e-mail nsabo@the-daily-record.com.

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